


Primal Instincts

by MoonPotatoe



Series: B'nuka Pain Because I am Evil [5]
Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Manipulation, Mental Breakdown, Possession, Primal Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), Spell Failure, Summoner Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-16 13:27:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29083125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MoonPotatoe/pseuds/MoonPotatoe
Summary: Why B'nuka can't be a Summoner
Series: B'nuka Pain Because I am Evil [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1781224





	Primal Instincts

"There. This place should be suitable for the ritual."

Y'mhitra exclaimed as she looked around the vast emptiness of the Sagolii Desert. The sheer heat of the desert combined with how close they were to some Amalj'aa encampments made where she stood the perfect spot to commence the Austerities of Flames. 

"A-Are you.. s-sure about th-this, M-Miss Y'mhita? I-I-I mean… s-s-summoning a p-p-primal… It sounds… I dunno, very… very d-d-dangerous…"

B'nuka was very nervous about this ritual he was to perform. Y'mhitra had reached out to the Arcanist's Guild for an arcanist to aid her in her research of Allagan Summoners, and since B'nuka was their best arcanist he was sent to aid the scholar in her research. As a curious mind himself, B'nuka was open to help Y'shtola's sister, until he was told what it was he had to do.

"I understand why you're worried, you did just defeat Ifrit a few suns ago. But I have done my research, and you won't really be summoning the Lord of the Inferno, just a manifestation of him using some primal fire aspected aether you were exposed to during your fight. It won't be any bigger than a carbuncle."

Despite Y'mhitra's reassurances, B'nuka was still unsure about this whole summoning what was essentially a mini primal from his own aether. In his head he was listing off all the things that could go wrong;

_ "What if the ritual doesn't work? _

_ What if this ritual kills me? _

_ What if the egi goes haywire and tempers Miss Y'mhitra and any nearby settlements? _

_ What if the Amalj'aa notice what we're doing?" _

Despite all his worries, B'nuka takes the soul crystal Y'mhitra had brought with her, and takes a few steps away from the scholar. He takes in a deep breath of the hot desert air and begins the Austerities of Flame.

_ "Lord of the Inferno, harken to me _

_ I, B'nuka Tia, shall be your master _

_ Feast deep of the embers within _

_ As we combine our powers into one" _

As B'nuka whispers the verse used in the Austerities of Flame, the Soul of the Summoner began to glow, and as it did, a summoning circle made of small flames appeared around the arcanist. Once he finishes the verse, nothing happens. 

"That's odd… Was this place not aligned with the aspect of fire as we thought? Or perhaps you didn't absorb much of Ifrit's aether?"

Y'mhitra questioned if they haven't met any of the requirements for a successful Austerities of Flame. She's fairly sure they've done everything right. They're in a place seemed with fire-aspected aether, and B'nuka is a powerful arcanist who has bested the real Ifrit in combat and lived to tell the tale. So what could be wrong. As she looks through the tome she has on Summoners and how they do their summoning rituals, B'nuka is just staring down at the Soul of the Summoner in his hand, pondering to himself

_ "Maybe… Maybe the ritual failed because of me… I can't summon a carbuncle let alone a smaller, weaker primal! We've met all the conditions...but my inability to summon Ifrit-Egi may be because…" _

B'nuka sighs as he wraps his fist around the soul crystal.

_ "Maybe someone else in the guild will be better suited for this job then me… As big as an opportunity like this is, someone else will be a better help to Miss Y'mhirta than someone like me who can't summon a carbuncle…" _

**_Mor… dist… thou… sum… ee…_ **

B'nuka blinked quickly for a moment, then found he was no longer in the Sagolii Desert. Surrounding him was nothing but a grey emptiness going on seemingly forever, and the floor was nothing but water reflecting the infinite emptiness. He was familiar, yet unfamiliar with this place, he only did visit it whenever he was unconscious. To be here while he was still conscious was new. But why was he brought here to this empty plane?

**_Mortal...dist thou summon thee?_ **

B'nuka's ears twitched as a voice echoed around him, but no source was to be found. He foolishly decided to answer the voice.

"Y-Y-Yes… I… I s-s-summoned you, I-I-I think. Are… Are you I-Ifrit…?"

**_Thou art but a form of Ifrit. But thou ist incomplete, unable to fully form. You are a Summoner, yes?_ **

B'nuka wasn't sure how to answer the primal's question. Sure he held the Soul of the Summoner, but he hasn't properly attuned to it yet to gain access to all the lost spells of the ancient Allagan Summoners. He's still an ordinary arcanist. 

"I-I'm not really a Summoner, I-I-I'm really just a n-normal a-a-arcanist…"

**_Then why dost thou have the Soul of the Summoner in thou plam?_ **

"I-It's not mine...i-it's my c-c-colleague's, she let me use it f-for the A-Austerities of F-F-Flame. I-I-I'm the only one who can do the r-r-ritual because I've bested a stronger f-form of you in c-c-combat…"

B'nuka was trembling as he answered Ifrit's questions, scared out of his mind as he's speaking to the god he summoned, unsure if this is a part of the ritual or not. He didn't have time to ponder as a small flame appeared before him.

**_The Austerities of Flame isn't finished yet, Mortal. There remains one, last step to the ritual. Touch the flame, feast deep of my embers as we combine our powers into one._ **

Once the flame appeared before him, alarms were beginning to ring in B'nuka's head. He had a bad feeling about this" final step." It could be a trap, the primal might want to temper him or use his body as a vessel...or it might finnish the Austerities of Flame. Maybe the Summoner's who wrote the steps of the ritual because this step involves high risk, but a high reward. B'nuka didn't want to touch the flame, but at the same time he wanted this ritual to work, he wanted to help Y'mhitra in her study of summoners by potentially relearning this lost form of magic…

He wanted to be strong…

He reached out to the flame, submerging his hand in it. For a moment, nothing was happening. Then a clawed hand made of flame grabbed his wrist. The sudden grasp of his wrist sent a shock down the arcanist's spine, then another hand of flame shot out from the fire to grab his other wrist. The hands morphed into chains as more fire shot at the Miqo'te, binding him still. In desperation he struggled to break free of them, as more fire began to surround him. B'nuka was scared, confused. Is this part of the ritual? Is he meant to prove his strength to the primal? 

**_Thou shouldst have listened to thou head_ **

Once Ifrit spoke, B'nuka felt the chains pulling him down into the now fiery floor. Fear had completely overtaken him as the primal was pulling him deeper into the depths of itself.

**_Why dost thou struggle so? Isn't this what thou wanted, to be stronger than thou already are?_ **

"I-I-It was just...an irrational th-th-thought! I-I-I d-don't want this! I-I-I want to w-w-wake up!!! I-I want t-t-to go home!!! I-I-I w-w-want my m-m-mother!!!"

B'nuka was crying as he struggled against the chains, pulling him further down. He managed to hold his body at the waist, but he wouldn't be able keep it like this for long, not while he's panicking and crying like a child.

**_Art thou sure about that?_ **

Ifrit remarked on what B'nuka said to him, and how they oppose how he really feels

**_Why wouldst thou want to wake up and return to a world so cruel? Why wouldst thou want to return to a home where no one loves thou? Why wouldst thou wish for thou mother, when thou knowest thou was the one who killed her?_ **

Memories flooded B'nuka's mind of a world cruel to him since the moment he was born, his family and tribe ignoring him, locking him away in a hut separated from the rest of the tribe to be forgotten, the shade of his mother from many nightmares he had as a child and still today screaming those seven words at his face.

_ It'S aLl YoUr FaUlT!!! yOu KiLlEd Me!!! _

"I'm...sorry…"

B'nuka whimpered as all the memories came flooding back to him, repeating those two words as each memory caused him to crack.

"I'm sorry… I'm sorry… I'm sorry… I'm sorry… I'm sorry… I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry Imsorryimsorryimsorryimsorryimsorryimsorryimsorry…---"

In his scared trance, he doesn't notice the fact that he's fully sunken into the depths of the flame, and that he's sinking further down, as he slowly begins to lose himself in the flame, and his memories. He can't move a muscle, frozen in fear and held together by Ifrit's clawed hands. Hhe can't feel a thing, the fire consuming his body. He can't see a thing, other than darkness and his memories. All he can hear are the voices of his memories, and Ifrit's.

**_What shall be thou choice, mortal?_ **

"J-Just...take the p-pain away… I-I don't care h-how you do it… just… make it all g-go a-away…"

Ifrit gladly obliged, grasping B'nuka's throat ready to take the pain away. B'nuka just closed his eyes, covering his silken ears as the memories voices got louder and louder. 

Then the voices went quiet…

Was it over? 

_ Wake up… _

"I don't wanna…"

_ Please, wake up… _

"No… I'm safe here…"

_ Please! We need you _

"No you don't… No one does… __

Just leave me be…"

B'nuka's pleas would go ignored, as he felt a light coming towards him at high speeds. The next time he opened his eyes, he was staring up at the bright blue sky, sand underneath him. He blinked a few times to adjust his eyes to the bright lighting of the sun and sighed. He felt very tired, and just wanted to sleep.

"Good morning."

B'nuka turned his head towards the voice to see Y'mhitra, kneeling next to him. 

"M-Miss Y'mhitra..? Wh-What happened?"

Y'mhitra chuckled a bit, before explaining what happened to B'nuka. Shortly after the verse for the Austerities of Flame were said, no Ifrit-Egi showed up. What did happen was B'nuka awoke the primal essence he absorbed from his fight with Ifrit, and said essence tried to take control of his body, giving Y'mhitra a bit of a tough fight. She eventually knocked his body out and used some Esuna to cleanse away the primal essence. B'nuka didn't understand most of what happened, but what he did experience is going to haunt him for a while.

"M-Miss Y'mhitra. I-I'm sorry, but I-I-I can help you with your r-research… I-I-I don't know if I'll b-be able to summon egis w-w-without the r-risk of l-l-losing myself t-t-to them… I-I almost did with I-Ifrit and I-I-I don't wish to b-burden you with that…"

"It's alright B'nuka. I really appreciated your help. Your little breakdown even taught me something new about summoning."

"I-It did…?"

"Summoners need to have a strong will in order to resist the pull of the Primals. As what happened to you, Ifrit tried to lure you into a false sense of security, and used something from your past to keep you under his thrall. Thankfully he was unable to do so, but I shudder to think what may have happened if I was unable to knock you out…"

B'nuka sat up, shaking sand out of his hair. He placed the Soul of the Summoner in Y'mhitra's palm, not wanting to be around it anymore. 

"I just want to go back to the guild… and maybe get my aether checked up to see if Ifrit is gone from it… and maybe take a nap…"

Y'mhitra helped B'nuka up to his feet, and he leaned against her for support. The two Seekers of Sun began to make their way out of the Sagolii Desert to the nearest Aetheryte to quickly get back to Limsa Lominsa.

"Promise not to tell Shtola about this. She'd kill me if she found out I almost made you into a thrall of Ifrit."

"N-No promises, Miss Y'mhitra. I-I'll just tell the g-guild I was unable to s-summon the egi."

**Author's Note:**

> B'nuka can't be a summoner due to his weak will because of the trauma that lies deep withn him. 
> 
> Bit if a rush but I wanted to add this headcannon to his lore. 
> 
> Might write a second chapter from Y'mhitra's PoV, and what was happening on the outside...


End file.
